It is desired to provide for earth stabilizing infrastructures which guard against erosion and earth movement, such as the stabilization of embankments, but more particularly to stop the erosion of sand and soil, from dunes or ocean beaches or other areas subject to wave action, which erosion is particularly caused by severe storm conditions or aggressive weather conditions or are related to the naturally occurring phenomenon of soil erosion and movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,542, issued Oct. 13, 1992, discloses an earth-retaining module and a wall system and method using such modules for stabilizing dunes and embankments. The patent discloses an earth-retaining concrete module adapted for use with other modules to form a wall system to stabilize earthen embankments, and to stop the erosion of sand dunes or soils along beaches subject to wave actions. The wall system provides for a plurality of side-by-side, secured together modules in defined, interlocked, stepped-back, upright rows to form an interlocked, secured, earth-retaining wall system. The modules employed in the wall system comprise an upright front wall and upright side walls connected therewith to form a generally U-shaped structure open at the top and bottom and adapted to receive fill material, such as earth, therein. The side walls of the modules have open notches, which notches are longitudinally aligned in the top of the side wall, with the notches of sufficient width to accept in an interlocked manner the width of the front wall of the module in a next higher row in the wall system. The modules also include a means to secure the side walls of the said modules together to an adjoining module to form a row of desired length, typically by employing holes in the sides of the modules and inserting in alignment pins or bolts to secure the side walls of said modules in place.
The module also includes a separate "dead man" slab element extending across the rear of the structure of the module, with the "dead man" slab element typically placed and mounted on two inward rear projections on the side walls of the module to support the "dead man" slab element in position. The earth-retaining module in the wall system composed of such modules, and the method of stabilizing earthen embankments as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,542, provides an effective means to stabilize earthen embankments and to stop sand erosion along beaches and avoid many of the disadvantages of prior art techniques. However, it is desirable to provide for a new, improved earth-retaining module, system, and method which overcomes certain deficiencies and problems associated with the past module and system.